Dr Monique Robinson
Telethon Institute for Children Health Research
The University of Western Australia
Colin Dodds Post Doctoral Fellowship 2011 and 2012
Dr Monique Robinson completed the degrees of Master of Psychology (Clinical) and Doctor of Philosophy at The University of Western Australia in 2010. Monique is also a registered clinical psychologist working in the field of child and adolescent mental health.
Monique’s primary research focus has been on the antenatal determinants of behavioural development throughout childhood and adolescence, including stress, hypertension, alcohol and cigarette smoking. This research has been based at the Telethon Institute for Child Health Research in Western Australia, where longitudinal follow-up continues on a prospective pregnancy cohort that provides the data for Monique’s research, the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study.
Within the last two years Monique has published 13 journal articles, in addition to four reports, one letter and one invited book chapter. Monique has presented her work at numerous international meetings and has been the recipient of 12 early career researcher awards to date.
SUMMARY OF PROJECT:
Early life influences on child and adolescent mental health problems: A life-course approach to prevention and intervention
In keeping with global figures, around one in five Australian children will develop some form of behavioural problem by the time they reach adulthood. Research that aims to reduce the burden of psychological illness has become of great interest for both Australian health and economic policy. Over recent years this has created an increasing focus on developmental psychology in order to understand how mental health problems are initiated and fostered over time. The thinking is that the best method for avoiding poor outcomes in mental health is to build and promote positive outcomes right from the very start of life. Monique’s project explores the early life influences on mental health development in order to inform prevention and intervention.
Monique’s research is concerned with longitudinal behavioural outcomes from age two to 21 years with regards to each of three early life risk factors (elevated body mass index, increasing time to pregnancy and late preterm birth), with the potential for further exploration as required. This involves the analysis of data from the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study. A second part of the research is concerned with the evaluation of pregnancy-based interventions in order to target antenatal risk and thereby improve long-term mental health outcomes. This part of the research aims to develop a “blueprint” for a future randomised controlled trial in pregnancy-based interventions